


Paper Trails

by neko_kirin3104



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fairy Tale Retellings, M/M, One Shot, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-24
Updated: 2013-10-24
Packaged: 2017-12-30 08:06:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1016168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neko_kirin3104/pseuds/neko_kirin3104
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Satoshi Ohno will stop at nothing to get what he wants because his Sho-chan deserves nothing less.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paper Trails

"The swineherd went behind a tree, wiped his face, threw off his poor attire and stepped forth in his princely garments; he looked so beautiful that the princess could not help bowing to him."

— **The Swineherd** by _Hans Christian Andersen_  


∞•∞•∞•∞•∞ 

 

_Spring, 2013_

You didn’t like the flowers I picked for you from your lover’s empty grave.

I guess I should’ve known it would upset you, though it’s already been a year since he left. Not of his own will, I can assure you that.

I’m still feeling the bruises from the fight that man had put up to stay alive.

He was not particularly strong, but he did have those chunky rings on his fingers that left hideous marks on my skin.

I didn’t quite understand what set him off, though.

I only told him I would take care of you in his stead and he just... lost it.

And I lost it, too. I’m only human, after all. And the knife did fit snugly in my hand.

My heart broke for you when you cried.

Killing your lover had been fulfilling, but I regret causing you those tears.

I’ve been sending you those flowers as my way of saying, “I’m sorry.”

I’m sorry, Sho-chan...

I’ll forever be sorry—

If it makes any difference, Jun-kun drained his last gasp of breath calling out your name...

 

_Summer, 2013_

I heard you say how the bird’s singing annoyed you, so I got rid of it the very next day.

If I had known it would upset you, I would’ve dealt with it differently.

I guess seeing a mutilated bird in its cage may have really been too much of a sight for you, especially since I know how queasy you get over these things.

It’s this surprisingly delicate side to you that has always made me long to touch you, care for you, hold you in my arms and own you like I’ve never wanted anything else in my life.

It’s everything you do that challenges your own virility, everything you say that defies your age, everything that you pretend to be in front of others and everything else that you really are when you’re all alone... All these things that make you distinctly _you_ are all the reasons I need to do the things I would never do for anybody else.

But I’ll admit I may have misunderstood your sentiments this time, since that bird was the only memory you have left of the best friend who went away half a year ago without warning.

While I can never understand how you’re still keeping your faith that the man would come back someday and explain himself to you, your grief over his orphaned pet’s death looked too real, I can never deny the remorse I felt over it.

Maybe I should’ve just thrown the damn bird into the lake at the back of my house to keep your dead lover company—

Come to think of it, that’s where I left Aiba-kun, too...

 

_Autumn, 2013_

The poor man was never supposed to be part of the equation.

But you just had to rope him in to up the security system in your apartment, didn’t you?

Didn’t you?!

That really pissed me off, Sho-chan! I would never have expected this from you!

Although it didn’t take me a moment to mess with your security system again, I didn’t really like the sight of that man leaving your place, looking as smug as though you’ve just let him fiddle with more than just the wires and fuses in your house.

You have, haven’t you?

I saw it with my own eyes once, twice, and every single time you invited him in and let him touch you like that, _use_ you like that.

That man reminded you so much of your lover, you said so yourself when you were alone in your room with only me watching over you.

He had the same snarky mouth, the same strong opinion on stuffs, the same domineering bedroom manners.

He reminded me of your Jun-kun too, you know.

And I felt I owed it to them both to treat him with the same bloody respect I accorded your lover.

You didn’t cry when your new lover went AWOL from work, although I did see you pale at the sight of the blood-soaked trinket box I left at your doorstep the following morning.

The promise ring inside it looked far too ordinary to match your unearthly perfection.

And it annoyed me that he would think of you this way. As though you can ever be matched with anything from this plane.

What blasphemy!

I didn’t regret cutting his throat open, you know—

I’m sure Ninomiya-san has found good company at the bottom of my lake...

 

_Winter, 2013_

For some reason, the first smile you’ve ever given me made me cringe inside. Like I was suddenly feeling jealous of myself.

If I had known it was going to be this easy to get close to you, I wouldn’t have spent all those months watching you from the shadows.

Then again, I needed that much time to make sure that nobody else gets in my way when I finally do reveal myself to you.

It’s only been a month since I moved into the apartment right next to yours.

A month since I knocked at your door that first day and offered you a portion of my home-cooked chahan.

You warmed up to me faster than I expected. And while it thrilled me so that I am finally able to get this close to you, touch you, kiss you, _own_ you like I have imagined doing so all those nights before, it riles a part of me up how you’re making this too easy for me.

You no longer fear me now that you can see my face.

You give away your kisses freely whenever I ask for it, whenever you feel like I needed it so I don’t leave like what all of your acquaintances seem to be doing these days.

And it disappoints me so that you’re throwing yourself away like this. Even if it means I get to catch you each time.

I miss the challenge your very presence used to pose to my existence.

As each day passes, I become more and more aware of the fact that you’re no longer the man I used to watch over and love unconditionally from afar.

I guess I have broken you far too much, huh?

And I know I have no one to blame but myself. That I have to do right by you this time, if only to make up for everything I have had to put you through.

I am never going to leave you, Sho-chan.

After all, none of those men in your past ever did.

None of the ones in your present ever did.

Their last thoughts had been filled with your image, the same way that your name had intertwined with their last breaths.

What a beautiful memory to take with you to the afterlife, ne?

I thought so, too. That’s why I made sure you knew before your eyes completely glazed over, before your body completely drained of life.

There’s no way I’m ever going to throw you into that lake, though.

You’re staying here with me, Sho-chan.

Right in that corner of my room where I can clearly see your face, frozen in the loveliest expression of fear I have ever seen on you—

And just like that, I find myself falling in-love with you all over again...

#

**Author's Note:**

> written for [je-prompts](http://je-prompts.livejournal.com) for the prompt _Give_.


End file.
